Please Sir …can we have some More?!

Yes OLIVER has a lot to answer for this Panto. Not only are their team 3 Sewer kids ahead in many ways but their town folk seem to be following with glad tidings of great stage-joy too ( hotly pursued by team 2 I might add …a chorus of Town folk living up to their Bullseye persuasion)

But where are the rest of this cast? – still in “The work-house ” I fear, bumbling about a bit in their energy and confidence levels. Just not seizing the Performance Day !

Drama’s a funny thing : Difficult, emotional , fraught with Anxiety and tension and perhaps, not so much a “Game of Thrones” as a “Game of Egos”.

It is Darwinian (the scientist who discovered the Law of Natural selection ) like the Law of the Jungle…survival of the fittest (and I don’t just mean physically or even ” trend speak for “most attractive ).

Like the plot of “Lord of the Flies” – 2 tribes of castaways locked in conflict …but who will make it to the beach unharmed …and in our case who will make it to the stage and as their own ” hot to trot ” performer ?

JACK’S gang may seem bigger, easier and more appealing , but being ” a braver RALPH ” has its own dramatic advantages.

But enough of literature ( read the book and you’ll understand )and on to this impending Panto …

Well maybe after these words…

What a fine qoute to end it all…

No words of mine , but those of Alfred Lord Tennyson ( another great romantic poet )

Something “ever so humble” in their message:

To strive
To seek
To find
And not to yield

Last night was hard for many, a bit too dramatic an end by all accounts.

Many tears were shed , many down-turned smiles and loads and loads of troubled faces lined up to hear more from their leader. But it’s drama , what else should we expect form those that love the Theatre …?

I just wish sometimes that when you came to me , at the end of a rehearsal, that you had the answer to your own dilemma…

Few really know what they want to say, most just look at me as if to accept whatever comes their way as a potential excuse for feeling bad or sad.

The fact of the matter is – that Pace Panto is a hard project to master!

And despite the prospect of meatier acting with more serious acting texts, many will stumble and fall here , on the simplest of acting truths : Self belief.

In Panto , unlike anywhere else , your emotions are often called on , in dramatic succession. Like four seasons in a day …we go from elation to fear in the space of a few song lines…

No other Thetare project demands your “acting spirit” be on display every second of the play.

The ” letting go ” of frozen and inhibited bodies is a must for this giant presence we have to have to entertain with .

The “getting on” with others , is a prerequisite of a team’s success – let the wrong ATTITUDE in at the drama door and the gap widens between those that do and those that don’t survive this challenging process.

And on “attitude”….

An attitude is an ego by any other name, and an ego can be positive or negative in the drama space …

You don’t have to be loud to have an ego, the quietest mouse in the room has a bit of an ego by choosing to hide.

The EGO I is the cause of many of you to be absent from those contentious drama lists.

But It’s what you do about this , that really counts.

You can cry, feel sad , moan , complain …that’s natural…you’ll be disappointed not to think you matter.

The fact is – you do.

As I said last night ” at close of play ” in Spires 1, six weeks have gone and progress has to be shown somehow.

Those on the HOT list have made excellent personal progress through this most creative project.

Their journey began from day 1 – maybe a mindset change for many ?

It’s not so important to know what propels them froward along the way , what matters here is they are making an impact on their team leaders ,their tutors and their director. They deserve the praise they receive – they’ve worked harder for it.

The almost Hot , the nearly X factor group , may be disappointed by (in their minds) coming second – yet another drama misconception and one (as I emailed one of them today to explain) that is not further from the truth.

There is no point telling you that you are brilliant , till you believe it yourself and for many on list 2 , this is still not the case

“Letting go” will continue to elude you – until you understand what it is you have to let go – for yourself.

I could have included more people , fudged the edges a little , let people onto lists to make them feel okay about themselves in others eyes . I know how you worry about not fitting in , but that doesn’t apply here, we encourage individuality not universality.

Why pretend , when we can make things so much better by being real about the things that hold us back.

We both know, deep down , that empty praise is not going to help you in the long run….is it ?

DANCE MOMS – that new phenomena sweeping our TV screens only goes to show , that discipline and hard calls are not the sole domain of the Spires Drama Rehearsal Suite.

In any top profession: dance , sport , art , music plain truth speaks volumes for better potential. Why should it be different in drama?

Many outside the space don’t understand what you go through during rehearsal and can often “cherry pick” wrongly the motives behind the drama moves we make…it’s hard to be objective when you seem so upset.

What may seem cruel at the time, is well intentioned , sometimes necessary and the only true way to Performance Success.

That’s why we are one of the best organisations at what we do. We are prepared not to be liked to make you like yourself better.

Which brings me back to Tennyson.

To Strive , to seek , to find and not to yield

So, here’s how it is:

You have to push harder

You have to look deeper within yourself for answers

You have to understand the reaonsing behind it all, in the context of the drama bigger picture

And you need to want to never give up , no matter what the outcome.

There is a SPACE for many here. An empty black riddle waiting to be filled with the excellence of YOUTH

Panto may now seem like an endless dark tunnel , but soon I promise , you will see the light , you will emerge from the sewer of despair you think you are in now and you will change , thrive , flourish even, but only if you surround yourself with “the Panto enlightened”

Life’s is always about choices….drama no different.

Choose to hang with the theatrical “swot” kids for once and you may find that their stage popularity in performance, brings you greater PACE rewards in the long run.

I expect to see you all ready and willing to follow Lord Tennyson’s example and onward into the Hottest Christmas Panto 2014 around !

Now come on , let’s see that secret smile .

X

Share this:

Like this:

8 Responses to Please Sir …can we have some More?!

Carla CochraneNovember 19, 2014

The snag of the word
Then that old familiar crack
Leaves my battered heart Shattered and smashed!
While we pass the pits of doubt
And ask ourself the question
Will we ever manage now to get it back?
"Add a layer of tape"
The sexton shouts nearby
"It should all stick back together"
Then a murmur, then a sigh.
Of course i cannot live!
Because living would mean life
And what a hardship that living life can be-
While im caught up in the past again
What a burden! What such strife!
To know if that i let go i'll be free
This, although perhaps not as literarily polished as Alfred Tennyson, i feel gives an example of how bad ego can affect us. I resonated particularly with the point that you cannot let go, until you know what you are wishing to rid yourself of. Unless you forgive yourself and forgive the situation fully, you will only stunt your own progress. I know of this first hand. Being able to share a part of myself and allowing myself to think and feel fully, unapologetically and without remorse was what it took to get me where i am. I am not ashamed to validate myself. The greatest sign of wisdom is to realise ones lack of it ,
and to have the intelligence to realise this doesn't not make you a bad person. Panto is like domino work, we all need to be aligned and on the same level, or else we all go down together. To always want, to always strive. To be content in our makeshift Neverland and knowing we must soon sail out. Of grabbing opportunities in both hands and knowing that the preciousness of these moments is far more important than the seeming impenetrable dread of our anxieties.
As i am going through a slight Kurt Vonnegut phase i will leave you with a quote than i think of whenever i begin to forget this point, as for me, i had to free myself in the moment, it really is a great starting point.
“And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.”
Remember, you can decorate absence however you want, but you're still going to feel somethings missing.
Carla.

Nathan McGregorNovember 19, 2014

Thats the great thing about panto is the journey.Yes it may be tough and stress but I would rather the take the hardest road ever than an easy one because you gain so much more from it.I remember the start of my first panto I was nervous.I had no idea what i was getting into but I knew that I wasn’t going to give up & I was going to give it everything I’ve got.Now I can honestly say panto was the best thing I ever done.It boosted my confidence so much on and off stage even changed the way I approach life.
You may be doing more than one show but each show is unique.just think when you’re on stage inspiring small children to look up and believe.Just think of the laughs and screams of joy when the beast in made king.Now if that doesn’t make you want to grab the moment then what will cause this is all our moment to shine & inspire and there is no moment like the present so take it and don’t let it slip.Make this panto journey the best journey ever.Make memories.Make friends
Let it go.Wow that 3 word mean so much.The power to let go,be free on stage and fearless.Yes it is hard sometimes it's all in the mind and once you realize that you are good enough and that you can do anything then you will start to let go.So I say to all teams lets do this.Let's inspire.Lets make this a journey to remember.Let it go
“I can't go on, I'll go on.”
So what do you say ?

Mhairi GilbertNovember 20, 2014

Did you write this Carla ?

Mhairi GilbertNovember 20, 2014

The poem that is ?

Carla CochraneNovember 20, 2014

Yeah i wrote it in my notes after the rehersal last night x

AnnaNovember 22, 2014

Wow that is a fab poemp carla

Carla CochraneNovember 22, 2014

Aw thank you so much Anna x

EllieNovember 23, 2014

Carla that poem is amazing and it really does some up how ego can affect not only you but your performance
Thank you for taking the time to write that incredible poem